UAW’s Big 3 Retirement Deals Fall Short of Pension Revival (1)

The United Auto Workers had an overarching goal last summer as it headed into negotiations with Detroit’s Big Three: claw back as many concessions as possible from the Great Recession, then keep pushing for an even better deal.

In many ways it succeeded, with retirement being a notable exception. While the union won big improvements for savings plans, its long-shot endeavor to bring back pensions for younger members went nowhere, even as it won historic gains in pay and the elimination of wage tiers.

The failure leaves intact a schism between auto workers hired before the fall of 2007, ...